Far Cry 4: 2014's King of Variety

Amidst the game breaking bugs, hilarious glitches, numerous DLC's, linear first-person shooters, and very long and involved RPG's, it's hard for a game to make an impact in November.  And this year, every developer and publisher held onto their games like newborn babies and then released them in meandering herds with various online issues, uneven gameplay, and broken stories.  Leading the problematic developer pack is Ubisoft with their nearly-broken-in-every-way AC: Unity.  But just a short seven days later that same company released another game called Far Cry 4.  Now, instead of gamers being worn out by the franchise's forth iteration, this pixelated adventure has actually helped lessen the blow Ubisoft took from the unbelievable mess that is Unity.  Why?  Why might Far Cry 4 be the somewhat savior of Ubisoft?  Because it’s a pixelated adventure that gives you unbelievable gaming diversity and more than forty hours of gameplay for $60 bucks.  Not to mention, outstanding voice acting, hilarious dialogue, and just all-around hell-raising fun.

Wild animal parties can be a good time, just don't invite the Rhinos, they ruin everything...and will 

drink your last beer.

FAR CRY's GAMEPLAY:

You'll hunt rhinos with a shotgun, fish with grenades, assassinate lieutenants, sneak through rave parties, ride angry elephants, stuff bad guys in trunks, parachute out of airplanes, repel down mountains, engage in bad drug trips, accidentally or purposely hit civilians with your car, fly helicopters into fortresses, jump off cliffs, fight naked in arenas, wrestle lions, and carry your mom's ashes all in the first ten hours of gameplay.  And all that has nothing to do with how you play.  The best thing about Far Cry 4 is you get to accomplish any of your goals in your own way.  Aside from a few campaign missions that have to be completely stealthy, you're free to finish all the other missions and side missions anyway you see fit.  Do you like shooting rockets at bad guys and watching them explode into little pieces?  Have at it.  Would you rather crawl your way through an outpost with just a silenced pistol and knife?  That form of gameplay is available too.  How about heading into the middle of a fortress with nothing but a bow and arrow like Rambo?  Yep, it's all possible.  Far Cry 4 doesn't limit your options at all.  In fact, it gives you so many, it's likely you'll become distracted.

"Dude, I told you to kill it, not wear it like a hat."

SIDE MISSIONS:

Even though the main mission and main side missions are in abundance, doesn't mean there aren't so many other things to do or try.  And if you're just wandering through the forest or snowy regions, smaller quests will become available.  In Kyrat (the fictional setting of the game) there are always people warring over right and wrong, and you have the option (nothing is required of you) to partake in any situation.  Just walking down a road you might find rebels fighting an opposing force.  Whether or not you help is your prerogative.  Or just over a hill could be local farmers struggling with a wild tiger.  Do you step in and help or standby and watch them get mauled?  Once far enough through the main campaign, you'll also have the option of stepping into Kyrat's arena.  Just like Roman times, you're placed in a circular arena and foes and wild animals are unleashed from massive doors with only you standing in their way.  But what if you don't want to help the locals or become king of the arena?  You could always spend your time trying to find the numerous collectibles in the game.  From masks to posters to special animals, there are so many things to occupy your time.  It's possible to spend an eight hour gaming session just searching for the right animal skins to upgrade your holster and various satchels.

"Oh that bear is being so cute right now...I think I'll give him a hug."

DEATHS:

Deaths are the reason why Far Cry 4 is one of the funniest games to watch streamers play.  You might tune into a gaming broadcast and find a stealthy player sneaking through bushes, only to be mauled by a bear a moment later.  Another streamer might be attempting to make their way down a mountain on an ATV, only to take six tries because they keep rolling the vehicle down the side.  Having one button decrease altitude on your tiny helicopter and another button for jumping out, makes for hilarious moments from gamers accidentally vaulting from their helicopter and plunging to their death.  But aside from all the funny deaths, there's hundreds of ways to die in Far Cry 4.  You could be blown up, pushed out of an airplane, shoved over a cliff, struck by a car, stabbed, shot, sniped, gutted, trampled by a rhino, eaten by a pack of wolves, drowned, shot with an arrow, poisoned, and many more.  It's all there for you to discover and nothing seems unachievable.

"Hey girl, after you're done killing and skinning those tigers, you wanna come back to my place 

and show me how to polish my barrel?"

CONCLUSION:

Far Cry 4 might not have the greatest story ever told or the greatest gun mechanics like COD, but the variety you get within the pixelated world is heights above any other game released this year so far.  Will it win game of the year?  Who's to say?  But it'll be one hell of a contender.  So if you're not into ninety hour RPG's or linear FPS's or you're just looking for something different, than Far Cry 4 has you covered with endless possibilities.

Gaming: Why do "Loading" Screens still Exist?

If you're a gamer than you probably noticed Assassin's Creed: Unity has been in the news a lot since its release.  Did it get super-duper awesome scores?  Nope.  Does it have unbelievable gameplay that took the series on a whole new path for future additions?  Nope.  AC: Unity has actually been in the news because of its awesome invisible cart racing and Arno's incredible ability to hang from thin air.  He also has the unique talent to stealth walk fifty feet above bridges to cross rivers and sometimes loses his face but not his eyeballs.  These hilarious glitches are more on the humor side than game-breaking side and that's a relief.  But we're not here to talk about why AC: Unity has been getting a ton of press.  We're here to talk about loading screens.  And one thing no one mentioned are the new loading screens in Unity.

 

Tim Burton is rumored to be using the above picture as inspiration for Beetlejuice 2: A Love Story.

Before the game released, Ubisoft announced there'd be no loading screens once in Paris.  And that statement can be seen as true…but just like a legal document, it has several holes, making it resemble a wonderfully crafted piece of Swiss cheese.  Yes, once you load AC: Unity and you're running around Paris in 1791, there aren't any loading screens, but you better never fall from a high roof without your hay net, or get stabbed or shot, or decide to fast travel or even start a new mission.  Why?  Because…loading screens.  They're not as long when going from killing to cut scene, but fast travel and dying are another matter altogether. 

Now you're probably thinking, "Well, that's okay because Assassin's Creed games have at least a unique loading screen that allows you to run around in an Animus fog for a bit."  And you'd be right, just not in the new Unity.  Apparently some hot shot in the technical department had the bright idea to do away with those old loading screens for something much more elegant.  So instead you get this:

Add another emblem in the bottom left and you almost--ALMOST--get the 1972 action hit: Pong.

A wonderfully crafted black screen with a tiny spinning emblem in the top right.  And if you're really lucky—if your loading is taking an astonishingly long time—you could get the thin white bar at the bottom of the screen too.  Both—the emblem and white bar—at the same time are just a graphic overload of pixelated greatness.  And these lovely loading screens can go on long enough to cause the player to pass out from boredom.  But the real fortunate gamers are the ones that attempt to complete a mission and continue to die over and over again, only to be rewarded with a long ass loading screen every single time.  So the simple question is—and keep in mind it’s 2014 and computer processors have advanced tremendously since the 70's—what the hell happened?  Why do gamers still have to sit in front of a black screen and pick their noses for long periods of time?

"My God, Madame, some treacherous individual has folded you up like laundry."

THE DON'Ts:

Hasn't technology and game creation come far enough to keep us away from the blank loading screen?  It seems as though Ubisoft is trying to pull a fast one by at least removing the words "loading" from the actual screen.  Well, Ubisoft, gamers are much more perceptive than you think.  We know a loading screen when we see one and we can—oh look…a cat playing the piano.  Damn, now where was I?  Oh yeah, the worst thing a developer can do is be lazy enough to give you a blank screen.  Hell, even attempting to cover it up with say an elevator ride like Mass Effect would have been better.  Or having a useless upgradable spaceship fly through clouds like in Destiny would have at least kept the gamer from falling asleep (maybe).  In this day and age, the last thing a "now" culture needs is nothing to see or do.  Each moment spent staring into the abyss is a moment that could have been spent beating some pixelated NPC over the head with a brick.  And it's on the next-gen (current generation to be honest) consoles.  If you're a developer reading this, then please understand there's a ton of things you can do to make this experience a smidgen better.

"I don't know why you two are giggling about back there, but I'll have you know: whatever that 

smell is...it did not leak from my spacesuit."

THE DOs:

People not only remember Bayonetta because she was a smoking hot piece of pixelated flesh that ripped her clothes off before each battle, but gamers also remember her because of her loading screens.  The high-heeled chick with nerd glasses had so many moves, that the developer let you practice them during each loading screen, making the loading time fly by.  Rayman's Origins and Legends gave you a silhouetted background to run around in, creating a loading screen that became practically non-existent.  And sympathizing with the player, The Devil May Cry 3, gave you the "loading" text, but allowed you to shoot and slash the crap out of it.  What a simple solution to a terribly boring problem.  Hell, the even simpler solution is loading a picture—any picture, even a random pic of someone's food is better than blackness.  Gamers love concept art.  And getting a glimpse into what sparked a level design is always a nice way to transition within a game.

 

"Eyes up here, young one, I wouldn't want you getting the wrong idea about me."

THE FIX:

So how could Unity have fixed the long blank loading screen without having to revert back to the past Assassin's Creeds?  Easy.  They could have built upon the game's strengths.  AC: Unity is based during an actual historic event...just like all their past games.  So why not show some random French Revolution facts while the gamer waits?  Why not attempt to teach players what exactly went on during that turbulent time in Paris?  What easier way is there to remove the blank screen then with a piece of art and some text underneath?  So game-developers, when you're considering and/or building your next game, please keep in mind: a simple picture with some text will go a long way to keep gamers from getting narcolepsy while they wait for their pixelated adventure to load. 

"Some days, sky-walking is all I can do to take my mind off of those dreadful Templars.  

This article has been bought and paid for by The Gamers Association of America.  (Disclaimer: The Gamers Association of America doesn't really exist.  Have a nice day.)